The Tourism Bureau yesterday announced a rewards program that offers NT$100,000 (US$3,090) in grants for every cruise with at least 150 people that stay more than three days in the country
The bureau said it aims to bring more Chinese tourists to Taiwan, and that it would only count roundtrip cruises. If the number of tourists is less than 150, the amount of the grant will be reduced in proportion to the number of tourists, it said.
Travel agencies will not receive grants for cruises with fewer than 100 Chinese tourists.
These chartered cruises would have several choices of places to stay, including Taiwan proper and the outlying islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. The ports they can dock at are: Keelung, Taipei, Suao (蘇澳), Kaohsiung, Anping (安平), Taichung, Hualien, Mailiao, Heping (和平), Budai (布袋), Liaoluo (料羅), Shuitou (水頭), Fuao (福澳), Baisha (白沙) and Magong (馬公).
While the incentive program does not stipulate whether Taiwanese travel agencies are allowed to charter Chinese ships, the bureau said that it hoped the agencies would try to use Taiwanese ships.
RSS